.af

Internet country code top-level domain for Afghanistan

.af

Introduced| 16 October 1997
TLD type| Country code top-level domain
Status| Active
Registry| AFGNIC
Sponsor| Ministry of Communications and Information Technology
Intended use| Entities connected with Afghanistan
Actual use| Some use in Afghanistan
Registered domains| 5960 (26 August 2020)[1]
Registration restrictions| Third-level names have restrictions based on which second-level name they are beneath.
Structure| Registrations are taken directly at the second level or at the third level beneath various second-level subdomains
Documents| ICANN MoU; Policies
Dispute policies| Dispute resolution procedures
Registry website| nic.af

.af is the Internet country code top-level domain (ccTLD) for Afghanistan. It is administered by AFGNIC, a service of the UNDP.

## History

[edit]

The .af domain was delegated to Abdul Razeeq in 1997, a year after Taliban fighters had captured Kabul and founded the Islamic Emirate of Afghanistan.

NetNames of London initially maintained the domain following an agreement with the IANA.[2] Razeeq later disappeared, halting some services.

The domain was reopened on 10 March 2003, as a joint program between UNDP and the Afghan Ministry of Communications.[3]

As of 26 August 2020, .af was used by 5960 domains.[1]

With the fall of Kabul in 2021, the .af domain again came under the control of the Taliban. ICANN said it "defers decision making to within the country".[4][5]

## Registration

[edit]

Registration is made directly at the second level, or on the third level beneath various categorised subdomains at the second level.

Third-level domains have restrictions based on which second-level domain they are registered under. Registration on the second level is unrestricted, but more expensive. All fees are higher for international registrants.

### Restrictions

[edit]

In 2024, a number of .af domains including "broke.af" and "queer.af" went offline.

The Afghan Ministry of Communications and IT said that they were registered through Gandi, a France-based domain name registrar, and cited Gandi's failure to make payments as the reason for suspension.[6]

## Second-level domains

[edit]

* .gov.af
* .com.af
* .org.af
* .net.af
* .edu.af
* .tv.af
* .media.af[7]

## References

[edit]

1. ^ a b "Domain Count Statistics for TLDs". domaintools.com. Retrieved 26 August 2020.
2. ^ "IANA Report on Redelegation of the .af Top-Level Domain".
3. ^ Pitman, Tom (8 March 2003). "Afghanistan to Launch Internet Domain". Midland Daily News. Archived from the original on 11 April 2021. Retrieved 26 August 2020.
4. ^ Bode, Karl (31 August 2021). "Afghanistan's Government Websites Are Frozen in Time". Vice. Retrieved 30 December 2021.
5. ^ Stokel-Walker, Chris (7 September 2021). "The battle for control of Afghanistan's internet". Wired UK. Retrieved 30 December 2021.
6. ^ Satter, Raphael (2024-02-16). "'broke.af' goes offline as Afghan web domains suspended amid payment dispute". Reuters. Retrieved 2024-02-17.
7. ^ "Dot AF New Announcement". nic.af. Archived from the original on 3 October 2020. Retrieved 26 August 2020.

## External links

[edit]

* AFGNIC official site
* IANA .af whois information
* AfghanServer, .af registrant

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Country code top-level domains

ISO 3166-1

A .ac .ad .ae .af .ag .ai .al .am .ao .aq .ar .as .at .au .aw .ax .az
B .ba .bb .bd .be .bf .bg .bh .bi .bj .bm .bn .bo .br .bs .bt .bw .by .bz
C .ca .cc .cd .cf .cg .ch .ci .ck .cl .cm .cn .co .cr .cu .cv .cw .cx .cy .cz
D .de .dj .dk .dm .do .dz
E .ec .ee .eg .er .es .et .eu
F .fi .fj .fk .fm .fo .fr
G .ga .gd .ge .gf .gg .gh .gi .gl .gm .gn .gp .gq .gr .gs .gt .gu .gw .gy
H .hk .hm .hn .hr .ht .hu
I .id .ie .il .im .in .io .iq .ir .is .it
J .je .jm .jo .jp
K .ke .kg .kh .ki .km .kn .kp .kr .kw .ky .kz
L .la .lb .lc .li .lk .lr .ls .lt .lu .lv .ly
M .ma .mc .md .me .mg .mh .mk .ml .mm .mn .mo .mp .mq .mr .ms .mt .mu .mv .mw .mx .my .mz
N .na .nc .ne .nf .ng .ni .nl .no .np .nr .nu .nz
O .om
P .pa .pe .pf .pg .ph .pk .pl .pm .pn .pr .ps .pt .pw .py
Q .qa
R .re .ro .rs .ru .rw
S .sa .sb .sc .sd .se .sg .sh .si .sk .sl .sm .sn .so .sr .ss .st .su .sv .sx .sy .sz
T .tc .td .tf .tg .th .tj .tk .tl .tm .tn .to .tr .tt .tv .tw .tz
U .ua .ug .uk .us .uy .uz
V .va .vc .ve .vg .vi .vn .vu
W .wf .ws
Y .ye .yt
Z .za .zm .zw

Internationalized (IDN) ccTLD

| Cyrillic script| Arabic script| Brahmic scripts| Chinese characters| Other scripts

|
|
|
|

* .бг (bg, Bulgaria)
* .бел (bieł, Belarus)
* .ею (eyu, European Union)
* .қаз (qaz, Kazakhstan)
* .мон (mon, Mongolia)
* .мкд (mkd, North Macedonia)
* .рф (rf, Russia)
* .срб (srb, Serbia)
* .укр (ukr, Ukraine)

* الجزائر. (al-Jazā’ir, Algeria)
* مصر. (Miṣr, Egypt)
* بھارت. (Bhārat, India)
* ایران. (Irân, Iran)
* الاردن. (al-Urdun, Jordan)
* فلسطين. (Filasṭin, Palestine)
* پاکستان. (Pākistān, Pakistan)
* قطر. (Qaṭar)
* السعودية. (al-Saudiah, Saudi Arabia)
* سوريا. (Sūryā, Syria)
* تونس. (Tunis, Tunisia)
* امارات. (Emarat, UAE)
* عمان. (ʻUmān, Oman)
* مليسيا. (Maleesya, Malaysia)
* المغرب. (al-Maġrib, Morocco)
* سودان. (Sūdān, Sudan)
* اليمن. (al-Yaman, Yemen)

* .বাংলা (Bāṅla, Bangladesh)
* .ভাৰত (Bhārat, India)
* .ভারত (Bhārat, India)
* .भारत (Bhārat, India)
* .భారత్ (Bhārat, India)
* .ભારત (Bhārat, India)
* .ਭਾਰਤ (Bhārat, India)
* .ଭାରତ (Bhārata, India)
* .இந்தியா (Indiyā, India)
* .ລາວ (Lao, Laos)
* .சிங்கப்பூர் (Cinkappūr, Singapore)
* .ලංකා (Laṅkā, Sri Lanka)
* .இலங்கை (Ilaṅkai, Sri Lanka)
* .ไทย (Thai, Thailand)

* .中国 (China, in simplified Chinese)
* .中國 (China, in traditional Chinese)
* .香港 (Hong Kong)
* .澳門 (Macau, trad.)
* .澳门 (Macau, simp.)
* .新加坡 (Singapore)
* .台灣 (Taiwan, trad.)
* .台湾 (Taiwan, simp.)

* .հայ (hay, Armenia)
* .ευ (ey, European Union)
* .გე (ge, Georgia)
* .ελ (el, Greece)
* .한국 (Han-guk, South Korea)
* ישראל. (Yisrael, Israel)

* * *

Proposed IDN ccTLDs

* .κπ (kp, Cyprus)
* .日本 (Nippon, Japan)

Others

| Reserved / unassigned| Allocated / unused| Phased out / deleted

|
|

.bl .bq .eh .mf .xk

.bv .gb .sj

.an .bu .cs .dd .tp .um .yu .zr

See also: Generic top-level domains

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